


on the darkest winter night

by walkthegale



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-05 01:41:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16801156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/walkthegale/pseuds/walkthegale
Summary: A collection of ficlets written for the2018 Worst Witch Winter Fluff Event.





	1. Prompt 1: First Snowfall

Ada hasn’t loved the snow quite as much since she sat in a frozen room, in her frozen school, and felt her magic seep from her bones as the cold crept in.

Hecate finds her in her office, looking out of the window as the first flakes of the winter begin to fall. They’re not settling, not yet, melting into an icy slush on the rain-wet ground, but watching them Ada can feel their chill through the glass and she shivers.

Hecate presses a kiss to Ada’s temple, and her hand in Ada’s is warm and strong, her magic a comforting crackle that wraps around them, transferring them out of the office and depositing them in the grounds. The wind is harsh, out here in this cool, grey light, where the first snow of the season will keep falling regardless of Ada’s feelings about it.

She used to love the snow, before she truly knew the cold. She squeezes Hecate’s hand, draws on Hecate’s strength and her own, and opens her heart to greet the new winter, before they head back inside, together, for a cup of tea.


	2. Prompt 2: Lights

Deep in the darkest part of the night, buried under a thick layer of soft blankets, warm against the chill, Hecate draws a line over Ada’s skin with her fingertip. In its wake, a faint light gleams, looping whorls and spirals and intricate patterns. Each time she reaches a freckle, a dot of light shines brighter than the rest, a scattering of unnamed constellations across Ada’s back.

The winter’s night is long, and tomorrow’s will be longer still. Ada arches her body into Hecate’s lights, enfolded in the glow of them, and the darkness beyond can do what it will.


	3. Prompt 3: Mistletoe

Out in the woods, on a freezing December morning, Hecate has her second years picking holly berries and ivy leaves and, under careful instruction, collecting mistletoe from the tops of trees. As they do every year, they’ll take them back to her classroom and she’ll show them a few potions, teach them some of the ways these plants are used in witching culture, and bit about how that differs and how it doesn’t from the way they’re used in non-witching festive traditions.

And as they do every year, the girls will steal away some of their spoils, and Hecate will pretend not to notice. They’ll put up greenery and lights and sprigs of mistletoe all over the school, and Ada will lean up and kiss Hecate on the cheek every time they pass under it together, and Hecate will refuse to admit the smile that tugs at the corners of her mouth.

She casts another small warming spell on her hands, rolls her eyes, and goes to detangle Mildred Hubble from a particularly vicious hawthorn.


	4. Prompt 7: Ice Skating

It doesn’t often get cold enough in England to freeze whole ponds, and hardly ever to freeze them enough for skating. Your mum, or maybe your grandma, might tell stories about it happening when she was little, but Mildred has never skated outdoors before in her life. Her mum used to take her to the temporary rink in the shopping centre sometimes, but it was always small and crowded, and one year something broke and it melted and they couldn’t make it freeze again.

So when Maud wakes her early one winter morning and tells her she has to get up because they’re going skating, Mildred doesn’t quite understand. Half-asleep still, with Maud’s excitement ringing in her ears, she pulls on her uniform and coat and tumbles downstairs to grab a hasty breakfast and follow her friends out into the grounds.

The pond has frozen. The pond has frozen and there’s a layer of powdery snow on the ground and everything looks sort of like the kind of winter wonderland you only really see on telly. Next to the icy pond, Miss Drill, wrapped up in a cosy scarf, is handing out ice skates to a queue of cheerful girls, and Mildred, Maud and Enid hurry to join in.

“Is this a witch thing?” Mildred asks eventually, rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes.

“It’s a Cackle’s thing,” Maud tells her. “Miss Cackle loves ice skating, so she makes this with magic every year. My mum told me about it.”

They collect their skates, and Mildred is pleased to notice that she definitely won’t be quite the worst skater out there, silently thanking her mum for the practice she’s had. Out on the ice, Miss Cackle skates in a graceful circle, smiling at the girls she passes.

“That’s not the whole story,” Enid says as they wobble towards the pond. “It’s true that Miss Cackle loves ice skating, but _I_ heard that HB does all the spells for this, as a present for her.”

Mildred wrinkles her nose. “Does HB  _ skate _ ?”

“Dunno,” says Enid. “Think we’re about to find out though.” She points to where Miss Hardbroom is picking her way through the snow from the school building, her usual look of slight distaste on her face.

Mildred loses sight of her then, busy finding her feet on the ice with her friends, chasing Enid at top speed, doubling over with laughter at Maud’s dubious expression.

Some time later, giggling and a bit tired, she veers to the left and pulls up just short of smacking straight into someone. She gasps, “Oh, sorry!” and looks up to find herself face to face with Miss Hardbroom. Cringing, she waits for the inevitable glare and scolding.

“Hello, Mildred,” is what she hears instead, from Miss Cackle, who has appeared at HB’s side. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Yes, thanks!”

“Good.” Miss Cackle smiles. “I am too.”

Mildred grins back at her, and for a moment she’s sure she sees the corners of Miss Hardbroom’s mouth twitch upwards too, could swear her eyes are twinkling. The two of them are holding hands while they skate away, she notices, their fingers laced together.

She races back over the ice to catch up with her friends for a sit down and some hot chocolate and mince pies.


End file.
